This invention relates to a donation kettle and donation kettle network for gathering a donation for a charitable organization, and the like; and, more particularly, it relates to a donation kettle that allows a contributor to make a credit card donation, a debit card donation, or a cash donation, and accepts, stores, and displays information regarding the donation.
As is well known, a charitable organization is typically assisted in the gathering of a donation and a contributor in the making of a donation through the use of a donation kettle. As used herein, the term "donation kettle" refers to a container used for collecting donations. Versions of collection kettles include containers made of metals, wood, or other material appropriate to construct a container into which a donation can be deposited. Collection kettles are commonly constructed in the shape of a pail with a handle.
Donation kettles are commonly located at or near shopping centers, stores, and the like. Generally, the presence of donation kettles increases near a holiday season. By way of example, the Salvation Army utilizes donation kettles in order to collect donations for its various charitable activities.
Donation kettles are generally attached to stands. Stands are made of steel, iron, bronze, and other metals and used to support a donation kettle at a height that accommodates the making of a cash or coin donation. Stands frequently have a sign located on the top of the stand to indicate the charitable organization collecting the donation.
A contributor visits a donation kettle commonly to make a donation to a charitable organization. A contributor drops a donation into the donation kettle. A donation is most often in the form of cash or coin.
A primary problem exists with respect to security. Throughout history, charitable organizations have taken precautions to secure donation kettles and protect them from theft. In order to secure these donation kettles, charitable organizations have padlocked donation kettles and securely mounted them to stands. Even given these protective measures, theft of the contents of a donation kettle is becoming a more common occurrence. Consequently, there exists a need for a method of making a donation at a donation kettle that, by way of example, will decrease the monetary loss associated with the theft of a donation kettle.
A further problem exists if the contributor only has with him a bill that is larger than the bill the contributor prefers to donate, e.g. a one hundred dollar bill. The member may choose not to donate the larger bill since his preference may have been to donate a smaller bill, e.g. a five, ten, or twenty dollar bill. There is virtually no way for the member to donate the bill he wishes to donate unless he obtains change from some source.
A further shortcoming of submitting a cash donation is that a contributor cannot receive a tax benefit for his donation since there is no way to associate a particular cash donation with the contributor who made it. Consequently, the contributor may choose not to submit the donation since it does not carry a tax benefit. There exists a need for a donation kettle that provides a secure way of making a donation, allows a contributor to make a donation that is his donation preference, and allows the contributor to obtain a tax benefit.
Yet another shortcoming exists if a contributor has with him no cash but has either a debit card or credit card. In this scenario, the contributor is foreclosed from making a donation since a donation kettle cannot accept a debit card donation or credit card donation. Hence, there exists a need for a donation kettle that allows a contributor to make a debit card donation or credit card donation and thereby increases the number of donations received by a charitable organization by accepting debit card or credit card donations rather than simply cash donations.
Moreover, another shortcoming of making a donation at a donation kettle or a plurality of donation kettles is that there is no integration of information associated with a plurality of individual donations. Consequently, there exists a need for a donation kettle network that integrates a plurality of individual donations made at a donation kettle at varying times and/or places.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a donation kettle which allows a contributor to make a credit and debit card donation, and/or associates a debit or credit card donation with an account of a contributor of a charitable organization and/or credits that contributor's card account accordingly.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a donation kettle network that can collect, integrate, and display information associated with an individual donation or a plurality of individual donations and provide useful quantitative data.